Summary
Super Mario Bros. Wonderhas released, marking the beginning of a new era for the series. The title is the first to featurenew voice actors for Nintendo’sMariocharactersin years. Many of theSuper Marioseries' biggest names make an appearance inSuper Mario Bros. Wonder, which features a high number of playable characters. However, the options from which players can choose have left many disappointed. While mainstays such as Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Daisy are all playable, the rest of the roster is made up of Nabbit and variations of Toad and Yoshi. In making this choice,Super Mario Bros. Wondercontinues a long-running trend in which some of the biggest fan-favorite characters are shuttered from major titles.
Super Mario Bros. Wonderis the first new 2D Mario game since 2012 and transports Mario and his pals to the Flower Kingdom. The Flower Kingdom is home to a special item, called Wonder Flowers, that causes a myriad of wacky and reality-bending effects when utilized by characters. Bowser wants this wonder power for himself and uses his first to fuse himself with the Koopa Clown Car and Prince Florian’s Castle, creating the Bowser Castle. Mario, Luigi, Daisy, and Peach join Florian in an effort to free The Flower Kingdom from Bowser’s wonder effects and stop the villain before he can pull off the ultimate wonder.
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Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s Character Options Choose Quantity Over Quality
WhenSuper Mario Bros. Wonderwas first announced in June 2023, it revealed a variety of playable characters. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Toad, and Yoshi were all confirmed to appear as playable characters. Fans were elated, especially fans of Daisy, as her inclusion inSuper Mario Bros. Wondermarks her playable platforming debut after years of spinoff roles. With so many characters revealed in the title’s very first footage, many fans expected there to be more characters to come, whether when theSuper Mario Bros. Wonderlaunched or in a future reveal. However, that wasn’t the case, as the title’s release this week confirmed that the announcement trailer featured the full slate of characters.
Super Mario Bros. Wonderfeatures a 12-character rosterfrom which up to four players can choose to play. While this large roster size could have opened the door to a wide range of majorSuper Mario Bros. characters, six were variations of either Toad or Yoshi. Oddly, Toad himself was not playable, with Yellow Toad, Blue Toad, and Toadette featured on the roster. Yoshi was joined by Red Yoshi, Light Blue Yoshi, and Yellow Yoshi.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder Continues an Unfortunate Trend for Major Fan-Favorites
Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s massive roster takesan unfortunate trend in mainlineMariotitlesand turns it up a notch. Offering a large roster in such an important title could have opened the door to a celebration of theSuper Marioseries' amazing range of characters. Rather, it padded its numbers with color variations and Nabbit. Instead of four Yoshi and three Toad replacements,Wondercould have taken the opportunity to include major fan favorites. For example, keeping Toadette but removing other color variations could have made room for Rosalina, Birdo, Donkey Kong, Wario, and Waluigi to all be playable.
Super Mario Bros. Wonderhad plenty of characters to choose from when deciding who belonged on the roster. It’s a shame that fans of theSuper Mario Bros.series were saddled with a myriad of Yoshis and Toads after waiting 11 years for a new title. However, rumors continue to circulate aboutthe release of the Switch 2, which would undoubtedly feature a majorMariotitle in its first few years. Hopefully this nextMariotitle, be it 2D or 3D, will feature a wider range of the series' most memorable characters, perhaps with brand-new voice actors of their own.
Super Mario Bros. Wonderis available now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
